London FinTech startup WorldRemit raises $100m from Silicon Valley investors TVC and Accel Partners valuing firm at $500m
WorldRemit, the London-based FinTech startup, has bagged a $100m (£65m) investment from Silicon Valley investors, valuing the firm at $500m.
The series B funding round, from US venture firm Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), along with existing backer Accel Partners, is the latest investment in financial technology firms emerging from the capital.
The $100m backing from TCV and Accel, early backers of tech giants such as Facebook and Spotify, adds to Accel’s initial $40m injection into the online money transfer startup less than 12 months ago. That means the firm is now understood to be valued at around half a billion dollars.
TransferWise, a currency transfer service to emerge from London’s burgeoning FinTech sector, hit a magical $1bn valuation at the beginning of the year after raising $50m of funding and yesterday made its ambitious debut in the US market.
The significant investment in WorldRemit will fund the five-year-old startup’s similarly ambitious plans to grab a larger share of the remittance market, which is estimated to be worth around $500bn.
Founder Ismail Ahmed said: “We have an amazing opportunity to shake up a stale industry and to save our customers time and money. We are taking money transfers into the mobile age, where people send from apps and receive on our Mobile Money services.”
The remittance market, dominated by the likes of Western Union, is undergoing significant disruption with a clear shift to online and mobile for making money transfers, said TVC partner John Rosenberg.
“WorldRemit is at the forefront in offering convenient, low-cost solutions, backed by a market-leading technology platform, compliance infrastructure, and geographic footprint,” he said.